Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Geothermal Heat Pump

I agree with what you said Theo. However, the diagnosis was coming from the geothermal tech. MarkECIN said that the geo tech called the electric co. to arrange transformer upgrade that will handle the excessive draw caused by simultaneous heat source demand. I would think that a proper diagnosis would be to find out why the system is regularly demanding emergency heat (heat strips). The fix would be reducing or even eliminating that demand.

The math doesn't add up for purposely under sizing the geo unit allowing the emergency heat strips to take over in extremes. It takes four times the energy to run them. I guess that I could agree if the emergency heaters were activated only a few hours a season but I don't think that that is even close to MarkECIN's demand. The only other factor would be the additional cost of a properly sized system at the time of installation but I would be shocked if that cost is even close to what running heat strips on a regular basis year after year would be.

Once again, Brettski is right. Proper sizing goes way beyond sq. ft. of the house. Other things to consider but not limited to are house floor plan, multi-level, average outside temperature, average wind speed, insulation integrity, temp preference of the owner, shaded or full sun etc. etc. Unfortunately, many contractors don't take many of these factors into consideration when sizing and designing a system. It's the consumer who loses in the end.